Wakefield Trinity v Leeds Rhinos: ‘We don’t feel like we are in a crisis’ insists James Batchelor

Trinity lost by four points at home to Hull in Super League round one and by two away against Catalans Dragons, before causing champions St Helens some problems in a 20-4 reverse six days ago.

Leeds are in a similar situation, having been beaten by Warrington Wolves, Wigan Warriors and Catalans and tonight’s losers will find themselves already cast well adrift of teams making the running at the top of the table.

That adds an extra edge to what is traditionally a fiercely-fought contest, but Batchelor feels if they can reproduce their recent effort and make some better decisions, it will be Trinity who are off the mark when the final whistle blows.

He said: “Everyone has got to find a way of improving a couple of areas in their game, the key points and, if we turn up with the same attitude and energy and play the same way we have been doing, but a bit smarter, I am pretty confident we’ll get the win.”

The weight of expectation is on Rhinos, who were hotly tipped in pre-season to do well this year.

But Trinity also have play-off ambitions and Batchelor stressed: “We don’t feel like we are in a crisis, where we are looking around wondering where the win’s going to come from and what we can possibly do.

“We are pretty happy with some of the stuff we’re doing, it’s just tidying it up.

“The first two games, we feel like we should have probably won and, against St Helens, if we had been a little bit better we could have gone into the last 10 minutes to really have a crack at them.

“It’s frustrating from that point of view, but we are in a good place with some of the things we are doing and we know exactly what we need to fix up as well.”

Assessing where Trinity have been going wrong, Batchelor noted: “In the first two games, the biggest thing was letting teams out of their own end too easily.

“We’d keep them down there for three or four sets and then give them some easy get-outs when we needed to turn the screw.

“Against St Helens a couple of different things changed the game. If we had been better in those areas, that would have been really beneficial.

“We are looking at two or three moments and thinking if we are better in those moments we win the game, so it [a victory] does feel really close.”

Trinity won at home to Leeds last year when Willie Poching was interim coach, but he is still looking for his first success since taking over the role on a permanent basis.

Injuries, particularly in the outside-backs, have added to the scale of this evening’s challenge, but the coach has no concerns over the quality of players in his squad.

“Leeds are in the same position as us, having not won a game,” said Poching, who was a member of Rhinos’ 2004 Grand Final-winning team.

He added: “They will come here hungry, on form and focused to try and steal the two points off us.

“That’s the challenge we’ve got to be ready for and roll our sleeves up for.

“We have to show some of the form we’ve shown in the last couple of weeks, but we can’t be complacent and just think that’s going to happen.

“We’ve had a couple of good performances on the back of effort and that’s what it’s going to take again.”